Benchmade Fakes, knock-offs, counterfeits thread...

Hey all,

Is this an authentic 551-1? Everything looks more or less right to me, but the pivot bolt looks different from the pictures I see online and if memory serves, benchmade had the patent stamp on their blades below the designer until 2018. Maybe since this is a late 2017 knife they had already transitioned to the new logo. Shown next to an authentic 551 for reference.

Thanks in advance.
 

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Andersonbushcraft said:
Hey all,

Is this an authentic 551-1? Everything looks more or less right to me, but the pivot bolt looks different from the pictures I see online and if memory serves, benchmade had the patent stamp on their blades below the designer until 2018. Maybe since this is a late 2017 knife they had already transitioned to the new logo. Shown next to an authentic 551 for reference.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I took a close look under a sak magnifier and the logos look almost identical, both the verified authentic 551 and this 551-1 have clear Rs in the circle next to the logo and the butterfly does not touch the benchmade. A clip screw from the 551 fits the 551-1 threads. Do benchmades in 20cv have a blue tinge to the laser marks? It has a visible blueish hint to it compared to the s30v.

Thanks in advance
 
Yeah this looks like a legit 551-1. It is possible that the laser mark hue changed slightly over the years. Everything else seems correct.
 
Benchmade said:
Yeah this looks like a legit 551-1. It is possible that the laser mark hue changed slightly over the years. Everything else seems correct.
Click to expand...
Jimmy,

Thanks for letting me know, you guys are the best! I feel like the 2021ish 551-1 that I had that grew legs had the same blue hue to it if memory serves. Thanks again for dispelling my doubts.

Have a great day!
 
Hoping someone can help me on this one. I had no reason at all to believe I had a fake, since I bought it from an authorized retailer, but this is different from the original 940 and has a few things that look like they were not done to the usual quality from the factory. This 940bk-03 was purchased from Scheels about 2 months ago; the first thing I did was order a deep carry clip from Benchmade's website and installed that. I have loved it so far, but have since noticed a few weird things about it.

You can see from the photos that on the contours in the scales, there are lines that seem to be imperfections from the milling/machining process. The close up of the handle is the best pic to see those.
You can also see on the battlewash finish of the blade, there are vertical lines that also look like imperfections from whatever process they use for that (I won't pretend to understand how they do the battlewash finish, but looks like etching). Best pic to illustrate that is the close up of the blade, right around the Benchmade logo.
Lastly, and the most important question: my 940bk-03 has a very smooth and slick finish to it and has a small amount of shine. Feels very nice in the hand but not very grippy. My brother has a brand new original 940 (I also bought that from Scheels for his birthday), and the handle on that has a true matte finish (no shine) that feels very chalky and has a ton of grip - feels much better to me. Should this difference in texture have me worried, or are the two supposed to have a bit of a different feel?

I should add: the OG 940 does not have any of the imperfections on the contour cuts on the scales and of course doesnt have the vertical lines on the blades since it is a satin finish s30v.

https://imgur.com/a/LjZxF7Q

Thank you for any and all help!
 
Last edited:
joey.calc said:
Hoping someone can help me on this one. I had no reason at all to believe I had a fake, since I bought it from an authorized retailer, but this is different from the original 940 and has a few things that look like they were not done to the usual quality from the factory. This 940bk-03 was purchased from Scheels about 2 months ago; the first thing I did was order a deep carry clip from Benchmade's website and installed that. I have loved it so far, but have since noticed a few weird things about it.

You can see from the photos that on the contours in the scales, there are lines that seem to be imperfections from the milling/machining process. The close up of the handle is the best pic to see those.
You can also see on the battlewash finish of the blade, there are vertical lines that also look like imperfections from whatever process they use for that (I won't pretend to understand how they do the battlewash finish, but looks like etching). Best pic to illustrate that is the close up of the blade, right around the Benchmade logo.
Lastly, and the most important question: my 940bk-03 has a very smooth and slick finish to it and has a small amount of shine. Feels very nice in the hand but not very grippy. My brother has a brand new original 940 (I also bought that from Scheels for his birthday), and the handle on that has a true matte finish (no shine) that feels very chalky and has a ton of grip - feels much better to me. Should this difference in texture have me worried, or are the two supposed to have a bit of a different feel?

I should add: the OG 940 does not have any of the imperfections on the contour cuts on the scales and of course doesnt have the vertical lines on the blades since it is a satin finish s30v.

https://imgur.com/a/LjZxF7Q

Thank you for any and all help!
Click to expand...
Those seem legit. The finish on the handles is a slightly different process to get that bronze color, that's why they feel different than the original green.
 
Benchmade said:
Those seem legit. The finish on the handles is a slightly different process to get that bronze color, that's why they feel different than the original green.
Click to expand...
Awesome! Thank you for taking a look and verifying that there isn't any issue.
 
Hi, I'm not able to load pictures on this forum, but I was able to add them to reddit below. I would really appreciate if you could give your opinion on the authenticity of this Benchmade Contego. I posted pictures along with a Freek and Griptilian for reference. The build quality is there but the logos seem off compared to my other Benchmade knives. I included the box in the pictures and note the upper left box in the picture of 4 box ends is the Contego box. The font is off there too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/benchmade/comments/1j54w71/new_to_me_contego
 













 
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jimfern said:
Hi, I'm not able to load pictures on this forum, but I was able to add them to reddit below. I would really appreciate if you could give your opinion on the authenticity of this Benchmade Contego. I posted pictures along with a Freek and Griptilian for reference. The build quality is there but the logos seem off compared to my other Benchmade knives. I included the box in the pictures and note the upper left box in the picture of 4 box ends is the Contego box. The font is off there too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/benchmade/comments/1j54w71/new_to_me_contego
Click to expand...

This is a tough one. The box font is not right. I don't recall ever changing that. The knife looks pretty good. Hard to say.
 
Sorry for the very dumb question. I just wanted to make sure that a Benchmade model 3300 Infidel never came with a carbide glass breaker built in at the end of the handle.
 
i don’t believe they ever did. i know a lot of the fakes have them or an even larger taticool skull crusher thingy
 
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